Recording medium
A
recording medium is a physical material that holds information expressed in any of the existing
recording formats.
Ancient examples
- Papyrus
- Paper (painted or written with a pencil). Today paper is mainly produced from wood pulp; in ancient times, old clothes were used. "Modern paper" was invented in France around the 14th century.
- Clay and stone (carved or incised)
- Wax tablets
- Chalk
- Quipu
Examples since the 19th century
- Photographic film
- Wax for recording Phonograph cylinders
- "Shellac" compound and later vinyl for analog disk records
- Plastic sheet for Dictaphone recorders
- Steel wire for magnetic wire recorders
- Magnetic tape
- Rigid magnetic disks and cylinders
- Floppy magnetic disks
- Pressed optical media for CDs and DVDs
- Write-once, read-many optical media for writable CDs and DVDs
- Read-write optical media for rewritable CDs and DVDs
- Flash memory media
See also
Communication | Sound production technology